The Body-Swapping Conundrum
by Mybrainsrmush
Summary: Gray entered the guild to see something he'd never expected to see. Natsu was being kissed. And was kissing back. But that wasn't what had caused him to stop and stare in open-mouthed wonder (and he vowed to never acknowledge the small twinge of pain he'd felt at the time). No, what had him staring in open-mouthed wonder, was whom Natsu was kissing. Pre-slash.
1. Chapter 1

**First of all, sorry for the intial trouble! I have no idea why the chapter didn't show up at first . Thanks for reviewing and letting me know!**

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Gray entered the guild to see something he'd never expected to see.

Natsu was being kissed.

And was kissing back.

But that wasn't what had caused him to stop and stare in open-mouthed wonder (and he vowed to never acknowledge the small twinge of pain he'd felt at the time). No, what had him staring in such an undignified manner, was _whom_ Natsu was kissing.

Not Lucy, whom Gray had suspected Natsu had a crush on.

Not Lisanna, who everyone knew Natsu had been basically in love with before her disappearance.

Not even Erza, whom Natsu seemed to have an unhealthy amount of obsession with, though he claimed he just wanted to beat the S class wizard.

No, the person Natsu was kissing was… himself.

And by himself, he did not mean another Natsu. No, Natsu currently had his hands all over the washboard abs, and his tongue down the throat of… Gray.

Looking down at himself quickly, Gray noticed a couple of things at once.

First, it appeared that he was wearing a shirt. Which whilst not unheard of, was unusual enough to warrant further inspection.

Second, the clothes he was wearing held an uncanny resemblance to the clothes a certain sharpshooter that he knew.

And lastly, he was quite obviously, through some bizarre feat of magic, in Alzack's body.

It did not take magic for Gray to work out that meant Alzack must be in his own body. And as he highly doubted Natsu would ever kiss himself, and he also highly doubted Alzack would ever kiss Natsu, he deduced that it must be Bisca in Natsu's body.

Which meant that Natsu must be… Gray began to look around for Bisca, and quickly located her sitting at a table surrounded by Erza, Wendy, Levy, Lucy, Happy and Charle.

Gray had to admit he would be lying if he said he wasn't equally ticked off, and amused by his friends reactions.

Erza was staring at 'Natsu and Gray', with blood trickling down her nose and a lustful expression in her eye (he'd forgotten that he'd once caught her reading yaoi novels).

Lucy was pointedly staring only at Bisca turned Natsu, and had a faint blush painting her cheeks.

Wendy was staring down at the table, a bright red blush covering her face, with Charle standing on the table attempting to block any view of the kissing she might have.

And Levy.. Well, Levy kept looking between the boys and a notebook she was scribbling in furiously.. So Gray assumed she was going to be using this scene as material for her next novel. He resolved to read it when she finished.

And Natsu.. Well. He wasn't doing much of anything at all. Well, not anything unusual. He was stuffing food in his mouth with the same amount of fervour as he did every morning, except this time the food wasn't all on fire.

Gathering his composure, Gray approached the table and asked as calmly as he could.

"Anyone want to tell me what the _hell_ is going on?"

Well, at least he'd intended to be calm. Woops.

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**A/N:** Currently this FF is pre-slash, (well, sort of. I dunno, do you count 2 boys who are making out, but are actually a heterosexual couple on the inside as slash? I don't.) and I'm not sure if it will get to slash before it is completed. I'll update the description if/when it does become slash.

This is also my first multi-chaptered fic. I'll do my best to make the chapters slightly longer than this in the future, but I dunno how I'll do with that. My writing has always been short and succinct. As such, I'm not even sure how many chapters this will be. I'll dry to draw it out (but keep it interesting) as much as I can, but I dunno. This fic is as much an exercise intended to improve my skills at writing longer fics as it is satisfying my plot bunnies.

Please leave a review ^_^ It makes me happy, and is more likely to inspire me to write. Of course, even if I only get 1 review per chapter I'll eventually post an update (I'm not going to hold reviews over anyone's head, or as a threat), but I'd be lying if I said reviews didn't motivate me. Heck, seeing reviews on an old fic of mine just recently was what made me come back to FF after almost a year and start writing again XD


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I went through and fixed some of the errors I noticed in my first chapter. Hopefully this chapter doesn't have anything I need to fix later :P**

**Sorry for the late chapter - I didn't have much motivation to write the next one, and I've been super busy teaching english in Japan, and travelling around and writing a blog. Busy busy :) Anywho, here we go :)**

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_Gathering his composure, Gray approached the table and asked as calmly as he could._

_"Anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?"_

_Well, at least he'd intended to be calm. Woops._

* * *

All of the occupants of the table guiltily looked over at Gray, excepting Natsu and Erza. Natsu just continued to eat his chicken, and Erza was still unashamedly staring at the spectacle Alzack and Bisca were making in the middle of the guild hall.

Gray sighed in frustration, and grabbed Natsu's shoulder, yanking his delicate female body in his direction - _and wasn't that a thought I never expected to have _\- so the boy-turned-girl was forced to face him.

"What did you do this time?" Gray asked grumpily, attempting to keep his temper in check. He often marvelled over the irony that as an ice-wizard, he still had a hot temper - at least, when it came to Natsu. The dragon slayer had a talent when it came to irritating Gray.

"What the hell's your problem ice block!" Natsu yelled back angrily, glaring at Gray. Whilst Gray's temper was short - Natsu's was even shorter. Side-effect of being a fire dragon slayer, he was sure. Except that this time, Natsu's anger fizzled out as quickly as it had come, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"Gray... why do you look like Alzack?"

Gray looked at Natsu incredulously, and then looked around at the others at the table. All of them, Erza included, looked away guiltily. Happy even going so far as to whistle in a manner that made Gray deeply suspicious.

"You mean you haven't told him?" Gray asked, his voice lowering dangerously. Whilst Natsu made his temper flare like a bonfire, others normally equated his anger to a lake of thin ice. One wrong step and you would be in serious trouble.

Happy hid behind Charle - who rolled her eyes -, Wendy looked horrified with herself, Erza was staring at Alzack and Bisca again - _would she stop that already! _\- Levy was quietly sneaking away, and Lucy was looking anywhere but at Gray.

"Told me what?!" Natsu demanded, ire rising again. He did not deal well with being left out.

Gray glared at his friends one last time, before turning back to Natsu with a sigh. He knew that Natsu wouldn't take what he was about to say seriously, so he'd have to show him.

"Ice make mirror". Gray grabbed the ice mirror quickly, and held it up in front of Natsu's face.

"Alzack, Bisca, you and I have all switched bodies for some unknown reason."

Natsu's expression of shock and horror was almost worth the ordeal, Gray thought to himself.

Almost.

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**Please review :D The story is taking a completely different direction to what I thought it would when I first started - but I think I like this way better :D**

**Any suggestions as to why they've been stuck this way? I have a general idea of what I'll write, but opinions and other ideas are always welcome :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I was spurred into writing this next chapter so soon because of the lovely reviewer messygirl89.**

**How can I possibly resist updating with such a lovely review? My chapter made your day - and your review made mine in return. Win/win :D Sorry for being such a slacker with my updating before this!**

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_"Ice make mirror". Gray grabbed the ice mirror quickly, and held it up in front of Natsu's face._

_"Alzack, Bisca, you and I have all switched bodies for some unknown reason."_

_Natsu's expression of shock and horror was almost worth the ordeal, Gray thought to himself._

_Almost._

* * *

The opportunity to mock Natsu was what made the whole thing perfect.

"Honestly, I knew there wasn't much in that head, but how on earth did you fail to notice that you're _female"._ Gray asked, struggling to hold in laughter, "or even that we appear to be making out over there! Are you blind?" he finished incredulously, his laughter ceasing when he'd looked at their likenesses making out, to be replaced with a flash of heat radiating from his chest to his face. _God, _were they even going to come up for air? How Natsu had managed to ignore all that was a mystery to Gray, but he wished he had that talent too. Maybe then he wouldn't be so affected by what was occurring.

Shaken out of his stupor by the insult, Natsu growled. "How was I supposed to notice! I woke up in my own bed, nobody told me anything", and here Natsu glared at their friends angrily, "and we still smell the same! This shouldn't be possible!"

"Well of course it's possible! It's even already happened before! What, did you forget when we all switched bodies before?!" Gray said incredulously.

"Of _course _I didn't," Natsu said, "but this is different! Last time, it was our minds that switched around - your body still smelt like you, and Lucy's body still smelt like her even when you were in there!"

".. You mean, even though I'm in Alzack's body, I still smell like I usually do? ..And that isn't how it usually works?" Gray asked slowly.

"Exactly!" Natsu said triumphantly, "Now who's being slow?", he finished with a smug grin.

Pushing aside the feeling of dread that this difference was going to cause them a lot of trouble - he could deal with that later, Gray latched onto the point that it seemed Natsu had deliberately ignored.

"Well, that's all well and good, but how did you not notice us making out over there?!"

Natsu's smug grin fell away as quickly as it had come, and he began to look distinctly uncomfortable. Gray watched as the normally loud and boisterous dragon slayer fidgeted with his fingers and mumbled something too quietly for Gray to hear.

"You need to talk louder than that flame brain." Gray huffed impatiently.

"Fine!" Natsu yelled grumpily, "I said I thought I was imagining it!"

Natsu's declaration was loud and shocking enough that Gray wasn't the only one staring at him slightly bemused. Even Wendy was staring at Natsu now.

"Why.. would you think you were imagining that?" Gray asked slowly, "How often do you see things like that when you walk into the guild hall?"

If possible, Natsu shocked their observers even further by blushing to the tips of his ears. If he were still in his own body, his face would match with his hair quite nicely.

"Often enough."

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**Only a short update, but that's because I feel like this is a good place to leave the chapter. As long as I can keep up the motivation, the next chapter shouldn't be too far away.**

**So, your job as my faithful readers, is to keep up that motivation with reviews ;) I'd still love any suggestions as to why/how they've been transformed this way. You never know, your idea might be better than mine :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ehh.. nothing much to say really. I'm feeling horribly ill, so, sorry if this doesn't come out the greatest ^^;**

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_"Why.. would you think you were imagining that?" Gray asked slowly, "How often do you see things like that when you walk into the guild hall?"_

_If possible, Natsu shocked their observers even further by blushing to the tips of his ears. If he were still in his own body, his face would match with his hair quite nicely._

_"Often enough."_

* * *

Gray blinked. Lucy blinked. Wendy blinked. In fact, it seemed like the whole damn guild blinked. Even Alzack and Bisca stopped making out at the sudden silence in the guild, prompting Erza to blink back her lust in confusion.

Natsu's blush of embarrassment quickly turned into anger, fists clenched at his sides. "What! Stop staring at me unless you want to fight!"

Gray shook his head slowly, still slightly dumbfounded. _He imagines you kissing him regularly_, a small part of himself was whispering. _Shut up_, he whispered back, _he probably just hallucinates all sorts of things._

"I knew you were crazy Natsu, but I didn't know you were _actually_ crazy. Who the heck hallucinates regularly?" he taunted, hoping for a reaction.

He got one.

Natsu growled, and then pounced on Gray, who stumbled and landed on his ass on the floor, Natsu looming over him with a fist drawn back for a quick punch to the face. What he hadn't factored into his battle plan, was his new, female body. Just before the punch landed, _which surely would have broken my nose, _Gray managed to get his hands up and grab both Natsu's slim girl wrists, yanking his hands away from Gray's person.

Even more infuriated, Natsu practically began spitting, throwing himself from side to side, attempting to get his weak body free. However, all he was succeeding in doing, was flailing and rubbing his body all over Gray - which Gray was doing his best to ignore.

"GET. OFF. ME!" Natsu screamed, embarrassment and anger mixing together to create a rage rarely seen in the dragon slayer. Gray had mere seconds to recognise that Natsu's eyes were looking particularly dangerous, before flame burst into existence all over the girl - _boy _\- burning both of their clothes.

"Natsu!" Gray yelled, panicked, having let go of Natsu's wrists and retreated already, "Stop it! These aren't our bodies! You'll burn them!"

However Natsu wasn't listening to Gray, and despite the slow blackening of his clothes and hair, had begun stalking over to Gray, a predatory gleam his eyes.

_What the hell?! He actually -_ Gray stared into Natsu's eyes and gulped - _He looks like a dragon. _Gray stared at the Natsu in horror, his heart beating faster in his fright. This Natsu was dangerous. This was the Natsu that could beat even the toughest of enemies - and that was when he was in control. Somehow, Gray knew that dragon Natsu who was being controlled by the **dragon**, was much more dangerous.  


"Look, I'm sorry! Natsu, stop it! I'm sorry, you win, you're not crazy!"

His words took effect almost immediately. It seemed that the shock of Gray apologising was enough to return Natsu to his senses, and the flames were immediately extinguished - though Bisca's clothing was definitely beyond repair.

Gray watched as the dragon in Natsu's eyes began to fade away, being replaced by the eyes of an incredibly confused dragon slayer.

Natsu opened and shut his mouth a couple of times in complete confusion, looking oddly like a goldfish, before the exhaustion of his previous activities seemed to hit his new body all at once, and his knees buckled beneath him, falling to the floor before Gray could catch him.

Fortunately, Gray was able to grab the girl - _boy, GOD this is confusing -_ before her -_ his_ \- head smacked into the floor, Natsu having lost consciousness on the way down.

Gray looked up at the goldfish expressions on the face of every person in the guild, before looking back down at the head held in his hands. This wasn't just a body-swap issue anymore. Something was wrong. This was **dangerous.**

"We need to talk to the Master".

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**Hah, so this is taking a rather different course that I had thought it would XD What was originally only going to be a 2, maybe 3 chapter story, actually seems to be developing some plot. *shock horror***

**Please review. Reviews are my sustenance. Particularly good reviews are what motivate me to continue. So, you know what to do ;) Come on, humour the sick girl :P**

**ETA: Someone left a comment asking about gratsu smut. I'm going to admit, it's unlikely to happen. YES, this fic is Gray/Natsu; but I've never written smut before. And the way I'm seeing this fic going - I can't really see smut fitting into the storyline. It's just that not type of genre. At least, at the moment. The direction seems to change subtly every time I sit down and write.**

**Anyway, sorry about that, but it's unlikely. **


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